The Razorback Boar King, a 7th Stage Neophyte Realm demonic beast, no matter how talented she was, this wasn't a gap that could be crossed relying on her own personal might. Even a cultivator at the peak of the Neophyte Realm, the 9th Stage, would likely run after being unable to damage the Razorback Boar King's barbed metal hide, which adorned its entire body. Unlike a regular razorback boar, the King's stomach was covered in a silver-gray metal hide.
Around the clearing, a dozen razorback boars lay scattered. The roar from earlier had clearly come from fury.
Her size paled when compared to the Boar King's 3m height. Even after a portion of its two ton body sank into the damp moss blanketing the entire forest floor.
From his perspective, she had her back to him, giving him a chance to eye a side of her he hadn't been able to before. What she lacked up front was more than made up for in the back. He had never seen a perky little bottom as nice as hers.
Laine was grateful that he managed to breakthrough to the 3rd Stage yesterday, or else he wouldn't be able to enjoy such a view from his current distance.
Her calm stance looked identical to the last time he saw her fight, though he couldn't see clearly from his angle.
The Boar King, despite its rage, showed intelligence. It watched her with its dark eyes, waiting.
"Is she going to attack first?"
He didn't have to wait long for the answer. As she withdrew a golden, disc-shaped object from within the white top, she wore over her blue robes.
"It can't be."
Laine couldn't be sure that the object was what he thought it was. Even though he had read many tomes in the Cloudveil Archives over the past couple of decades, sadly, most of the information available to him was very broad. It wasn't uncommon for information to only be available for members of powerful sects or those born into prestigious clans; however, he refused to join a sect, not wanting to be controlled and confined. He was determined to remain a rogue cultivator and keep all of his freedoms.
His eyes widened when the object flew from her hand and into the sky.
The once compact disc expanded into a swirling golden sphere, 50 meters wide.
Laine nearly fell from his branch. "A Seeking Star Talisman!"
He recognized it now. Though he had never seen one, the description fit. A second sun in the sky. That's what this was.
Crafted from the hide and blood of a Sunfire Dragon, an Earth Realm demonic beast, the Seeking Star Talisman couldn't be bought with mere spirit stones. How she obtained one remained a mystery.
Because of the second sun, Laine could feel his skin turning red and the tinge of pain that accompanied it. He couldn't imagine what the Boar King was feeling, and he didn't want to. His best guess was that his body would boil itself.
Regarding the Boar King, unlike the perky-bottomed beauty who was surrounded by an icy-blue sphere of aura, its thick metal hide deformed under the intense heat.
Sensing an unfavorable outcome, the massive beast let out what sounded like a squeal of fear and fled in the opposite direction. Its massive frame became a literal blur as it hastened toward the nearest forest.
Unfazed, she brought her right hand down.
The golden sun followed, descending in pursuit of the Boar King. When the beast reached the forest's edge, the Seeking Star caught it. A flash, then silence. Only ash remained—mounds of it, from the Black Ironwoods to the moss they once shaded.
At the center of the destruction lay a shimmering pile of silver ash.
Laine still felt his heart threaten to burst free. He shivered at the thought of the Boar King fleeing in his direction. If it had done so, he held no confidence in his ability to escape the golden sun's wrath. For one, the Boar King was many times faster than he was, even with the help of a talisman, and it was caught up to almost instantaneously.
He adjusted his position on the branch so he could easily dismount and escape if the need arose. Thankfully, his entire body was shielded by the thick, ash-colored leaves that hid every branch of the Black Ironwood cluster. Though it had the downside of being hard to move around on the branch without creating a lot of noise. He wouldn't underestimate his senses.
The smell of a burnt wood reached his nose at the exact moment the perky-bottomed beauty spun around, eyeing the direction where Laine was hiding.
Laine froze, holding his breath.
She can't know I'm here. Wait, where did that urn come from? What happened to her sword? Various thoughts rushed through his mind.
The icy-blue aura surrounding her disappeared. Tucked in between her left arm was an urn, almost identical to the urn Laine had purchased yesterday. She turned back and went ahead to the silver pile of ash. When she reached it, she unsealed the urn. Upon opening it, a suction force pulled in every bit of the Boar King's ashes, and then the urn was resealed once again.
She resealed the urn and looked toward Laine's direction again.
He carefully withdrew three leaf-shaped talismans made of an unknown fibrous material.
She knows. I must've made too much noise—or maybe she's just paranoid.
She stretched out her hand, palm facing the sky. Her lips parted, and she blew gently. A white orb appeared and shot toward Laine.
"Life Trailing Talisman! Damn her!"
The talisman wouldn't harm him directly, but if it locked onto his position, it would hover overhead for a day, giving away his location. How could he allow her to follow him home without his consent?
Laine didn't hesitate and channeled his aura into one of the leaf-shaped talismans. This talisman was known as the Windwalk Talisman, created for one simple reason: to escape.
The talisman glowed green, then disintegrated into dust. The dust swirled around Laine's legs, turning into a powerful wind. He pushed off the branch, landing in a blur of speed. Leaves and branches scattered behind him. Without looking back, he sprinted into the forest.
The Trailing Talisman closed in from above.
"Do you think a rat like yourself can escape from I, Larissa Vale?"
Her voice reached him clearly even as he zigzagged through the clusters of Black Ironwoods. Cultivators could project their voice long distances using their cultivation bases. This meant she was fully aware of his existence. He was relieved, however, that she hadn't seen him with her own eyes.
"I didn't ask for your name, Miss Perky Bottom!" Laine shouted, the wind whipping across his face.
Though he knew taunting her wasn't wise, he refused to let her bully him.
At his current speed, it didn't take him a minute to reach another clearing. Here there were six razorback boar corpses scattered about in this clearing. However, he didn't slow for an even glance and passed through another cluster of Black Ironwood trees. The Trailing Talisman was gaining on him quicker than he anticipated. There were only 20 meters separating him and suffering.
Though she hadn't responded to his taunt, Laine felt sure she was furious.
Not 20 seconds after he passed through the clearing, Larissa's voice shrieked from behind.
"You bastard!"